Leaving LO. . . help!

mesmom2011

My DD is 15 months old.  She still breastfeeds several times a day and a couple of times over night.  She is very attached to me and often cries if I leave the room (although that has improved greatly in the past few weeks).  I am off for the summer, but will be working for 1 hour / week for the next few weeks and will be returning to work full-time in August.  Yesterday I left DD with DH for about 2 hours.  She cried, sobbed and fussed for "Mama."  DH finally put a movie on for her and she fell asleep.  When she woke up, she was asking for me again.  I know it makes DH feel bad.  He is a SAHD and loves to be with her.  Last year, I got up and got ready for work so she was still sleeping when I left.  They didn't have this issue then, but it seems that things won't be that easy this year. . . Do you have any suggestions to help LO deal with the fact that mama has to leave sometimes?  We both hate to see her get so upset.  Thanks in advance for your help and support.

tokenhoser

I would try to leave for short periods in the weeks leading up to FT work - go away for 1-2 hours. Say goodbye and give a hug, then go. Come back and give lots of cuddles and nurse her.

DS took 2 weeks to adjust to daycare. He went from being a clingy total mess to having lots of fun. Make sure there's a plan to keep her entertained and busy while you're gone for the first while - it might help if DH takes her out to some activities away from the house. It was hard to have DS be so upset and out of sorts, but I (contractually) had to return to work so we just got through it. Two weeks seems to be a pretty typical "rough patch" for daycare newbies here (most start at 12 months). 

Our nursing has been fine. I don't pump at work and can still nurse him when ever on weekends. 

He does always start to cry and whine when I get home. That's the worst part. It's like he can hold it together all day, but once he sees me all his "I miss mama" comes out at once. It is a bit heartbreaking, but we cuddle and nurse and then it's all okay.

mesmom2011

Thanks!  I was thinking that I need to leave her a little more often.  I just don't really feel like I need a break and I like to spend as much time as possible with her now while I have the chance. 

I think you're right about DH needing to get her out of the house.  He loves being home with her and he does a great job, but she's going to need a little more entertainment this year as opposed to last year when she was little and didn't get bored easily. 

I'm glad to hear that you haven't experienced problems with BFing.  My DD is dairy intollerant and we've chosen not to supplement with anything else besides BM.  She seems to nurse a lot more right now and I am a little worried about going back to work.  I really don't want to have to pump anymore! 

Thanks for your advice and encouragement!

tokenhoser

My son just loves to nurse. He doesn't eat much for solids and prefers breastmilk. So I nurse him a couple times over night, before work in the morning, and then off and on the hours after work until he goes to bed. It's pretty frequent there between 4 and 7 pm - sometimes every few minutes. I think it's about reconnecting and reassuring as well as eating, and I really don't mind, so I just let him come and go as he pleases.

I hear you on wanting to savour the days where you don't have to go! I did try to ease into daycare a week before I had to, but I don't really know if it helped. He was fine on the short days, and a mess on the first few long days. If you do have any appointments (dentist, doctor, hair, whatever) that you could schedule in the week before work starts, it might be nice to get those out of the way and they are typically just an hour or so away from home.